'Grey's Anatomy' : Meredith Reveals She's Leaving and Lightning Strikes — to Heartbreaking Effect

This post contains spoilers from Thursday's episode of Grey's Anatomy.

The fall finale of Grey's Anatomy saw one small sentimental save and one big possible loss — and, thankfully, neither of those were people.

The episode began with Dr. Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) sending a short and sweet email to the staff of Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital, officially announcing that she was moving to Boston and had accepted a position with the Catherine Fox Foundation to research Alzheimer's disease.

At first, the interns were concerned what this would mean for the program, but Dr. Nick Marsh (Scott Speedman) assured them it wasn't going anywhere. Others wonder who would be the next Chief of Surgery. But most took the news well.

Well, aside from Meredith's boyfriend Nick, who was struggling to find his place in Meredith's new plans.

When Dr. Richard Webber (James Pickens Jr.) asked him if he should anticipate a similar farewell letter, Nick responded, "I don't know. I mean, to be honest, I've been so busy with the residency and my caseload, I haven't had time to think about it. And if I had, I wouldn't have thought for very long because trying to think of the right way to give the right answer with Meredith is just..."

"She's not easy, I know, but there's also no one like her," Webber said. "And when she leaves, this place will feel it, so I just need to make sure I'm prepared across the board."

Later, as they were scrubbing in for surgery together, Meredith could tell something was bothering Nick, and addressed it head-on: "I don't know what to do either. I want to fight for us. I want to try. But every answer feels bad."

"Because there isn't a very good one," Nick replied. "If I ask you to stay, I'm being a jerk. And if I follow you, I'm deserting this class, your class."

"But I haven't asked you to do either one of those things," Meredith insisted. To which Nick responded, "Yes, you haven't asked to do anything. Nothing. You don't consider me part of your life."

Meredith denied this as Nick continued: "You took the Boston job without even talking to me, without even thinking of talking to me. And I get it. I do. I get it, your family needs you. But it sucks. It sucks. And I'm being supportive because there is no other answer."

Meanwhile, Dr. Maggie Pierce (Kelly McCreary) was at Meredith's house — once Ellis Grey's house and, since the show's inception, home to more doctor roommates than one can count — helping her pack, spending time with her nieces and nephew and avoiding her husband, Dr. Winston Ndugu (Anthony Hill), who announced last week that he was going to change specialties in order to no longer work under his wife (and hopefully, in doing so, save his marriage, which has been floundering of late). Eventually, Winston turned up, called Maggie out on avoiding him, and insisted on helping.

As the struggling couple worked, Maggie found the framed Post-It upon which Meredith and Derek (Patrick Dempsey) first exchanged vows. She told Winston the story and set the item aside to make sure it didn't accidentally get thrown away in the move. Then, lightning struck a tree right near the house.

The next thing we know, Richard got a call from Ben Warren (Jason George), a former doctor who now works as a firefighter at Station 19. Richard immediately went down to see Meredith while she was in surgery and told her to "take your hands from the field. There's been reports of a fire at your address. I tried calling Winston and Maggie but they didn't answer."

When Meredith arrived at the house, everyone was safe: Maggie, Winston and her three children. But the house was in flames. The house, which has been a safe haven for seemingly half the doctors who've been on the show in its 19 seasons, may be no more.

"But a house is not a home..." might've been what you expected Pompeo's voiceover to say, but it didn't.

Moments later, Maggie hands the framed Post-It to Meredith. "Winston found this earlier. It fell when the lightning hit. It was all I managed to take," Maggie said.

In the previews for the winter premiere, we see all the makings of a going away party for Meredith as she gets ready to head to Boston.

This week's episode marks Pompeo's sixth of the season — and the premiere next year would be her seventh. In August, the actress revealed she would only be appearing in eight episodes during season 19 as she prepares to star in a new series for Hulu, Orphan.

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Grey's Anatomy returns Feb. 23 on ABC.